overview
- Naming : The name for this gemstone has its origins in Greek: "smaragdos" means "green stone".
- Mineral group: The emerald is considered the most precious stone of the beryl group.
- Color : The color "emerald green" is considered the most important evaluation criterion for this gemstone. The emerald gets its color from traces of chromium, vanadium and iron, which, due to their respective concentrations, produce an exceptionally beautiful color palette from pastel to deep green. Emeralds in a strong emerald green are generally more expensive than pale green stones.
- Special feature : Emeralds have a good hardness (which protects them from scratches), but are among the more brittle gemstones. Setting these green gemstones is therefore a challenging task.
Quality factors
Color
The most important criterion for evaluating an emerald is its color. The stronger the emerald green, the more valuable the emerald is.
carat
Carat indicates the size of a gemstone - 0.2 grams correspond to 1 carat. Basically, the more carats, the more valuable. Emeralds, which have a more beautiful color, can be more expensive even though they have fewer carats.
purity
Clarity is not the deciding factor for emeralds. Emeralds with inclusions but with an emerald green color are more valuable than flawless, pale green emeralds.
cut
The emerald is basically available in all types of cut. In order to particularly emphasize the bright colors, the so-called emerald cut - all four corners are blunted by facets - was developed.
The value of the unmistakable emerald green
With their special green color, emeralds are among the most valuable gemstones and precious stones in the world. Emeralds are hardly inferior in value to rubies and diamonds. Emeralds from Brazil are particularly expensive, and their strong green color sometimes commands higher prices than comparable diamonds. Due to the inclusions and the uneven distribution of color, emeralds are not among the clearest gemstones, but due to their rarity they are among the most sought-after. Cracks, clouding or color turbidity are now counteracted in the jewelry manufacturing industry with the help of synthetic resins and oils. This stabilizes the gemstones and allows the green to appear better. Most emeralds are of such poor quality that they are only suitable for cabochon cutting. Since 1935, emeralds have also been able to be produced synthetically (the first synthetic stone was produced in Germany), but the production is quite complicated and expensive and these imitations never come close to the original.
Special emeralds
The Most Desired
There is particularly high demand for the rare Trapiche emeralds, which are found exclusively in Colombia.
The Greatest
The largest emerald ever found weighs 16,300 carats and is now on display in the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul. Another special specimen is the “Mackay” emerald from the Colombian Muzo mine.
Special occasions
birthstone
The emerald is the birthstone for the month of May.
wedding anniversary
The emerald is the gemstone for the 20th and 35th wedding anniversaries.
occurrence of the emerald
Colombia, the Urals, Brazil and South Africa
The first emerald finds date back a long time ago in ancient Egypt. The gemstones were mined there as early as the 13th century BC. The Orient, the Persians, the Ottomans and the Indians revered these gemstones until the first finds were made in South America (Colombia, Mexico and Chile). Colombia, the Urals, Brazil and South Africa are now considered the most important locations. However, emeralds are also found in Norway and Austria (Habachtal).
jewelry with emeralds
The emerald is considered a particularly valuable gemstone due to its rarity and is particularly sought after thanks to its intense and unique colors. Are you interested in a piece of jewelry that contains an emerald? Whether it's a ring, necklace or bracelet - at RENÉSIM you can get individual pieces of jewelry with your desired gemstone.
Buy gemstones
gemstone cuts
Things to know
